King Alfred

King Alfred inherited the throne at a difficult time. His father, the Old King, had ended a long and bitter war with the neighboring kingdom, which left both countries in near ruins. The Old King died soon after the declaration of peace was finalized, leaving young Alfred in charge.

While King Alfred had been well-educated and had been included in every decision the Old King made in the last few years, it is a very different thing to rule a kingdom than to watch someone else rule it. Alfred was lucky in that the Old King had left Alfred good, honest and wise counselors to help him.

Alfred worked hard on rebuilding his kingdom. He and the neighboring Queen worked hard to rebuild relations between their two kingdoms, helping each other rebuild and grow, ensuring another destructive war would never break out between them. They took frequent trips to each other’s domain, both to confer with each other and to cheer the other’s progress in good harvests, new roads, and amazing discoveries.

It was during one of these trips that Alfred fell in love with the Queen’s daughter, Sophia. She and Alfred had been friends for years by then, and they each realized they loved the other during a walk in the palace gardens, when Alfred picked a rose for her.

King Alfred has tried to prepare his own children as much as he could for their eventual responsibilities, finding the best tutors for them and showing them both the power and responsibility required to be a good monarch. While he’s confident that any of his three children would make a great ruler, he hopes that he will live much longer than his own father, allowing the princesses and prince plenty of time to grow into wise adults before taking the crown.

As a king, Alfred keeps the well-being of his people as his top priority. Every decision and treaty is made with the intent of improving the conditions his people live in, resulting in a populace proud to be his subjects.

Once a week, Alfred holds open court, when any subject may come to him and ask for the king’s ruling in any dispute. Alfred tries very hard to be kind, and when he can’t be kind, to be fair.